The Eucharistic Bell Pilgrimage 3rd February 2012

The Commencement of the Eucharistic Congress Bell Pilgrimage

The pilgrimage of the Eucharistic Bell began in the Archdiocese of Dublin on 17th March 2011, when the bell was blessed by Archbishop Martin in the Pro Cathedral in Dublin. It was then brought to Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, Armagh, from where it continued its journey from diocese to diocese. The pilgrimage will end in a final pilgrimage ceremony at the opening of the International Eucharistic Congress in the Archdiocese of Dublin in June 2012. The bell has been fitted into a carrying frame in which it will be brought on foot from place to place around Ireland by teams of volunteers. It will be a focal point for gathering and for prayer, in cathedrals, parish churches and places of pilgrimage.

Today the Eucharistic Bell arrived at the Daughters of Charity community of Rickard House in Blackrock Co. Dublin. Many parishioners from St. John the Baptist Parish, staff from Rickard House and the Daughters of Charity from many community houses waited to receive the Bell and processed into the chapel with it as the congregation sang the Eucharistic Hymn, ‘Though we are many’. Sr. Catherine Prendergast DC Provincial of the Daughters of Charity led the procession accompanied by Fr. John Delaney Parish priest of St. John the Baptist Church Blackrock and Fr. Davitt CM, chaplain to the sisters in Rickard House.

Fr. John Delaney explained that the bell calls us to be awake and reminds us of the coming of the Congress. It also appeals to our inner selves and asks us to have an open heart and receive the graces that God wants to bring us at this time. Let us thank God for gift of the Eucharist and ask God to bless us all with the gift of faith so that we can share our faith in the Eucharist with others and live it in our lives.